Arch file



March 5, 1963 A. J. HIRS'CHLE ARCH FILE Filed Dec. 22, 1960 Unitedfitates Patent 3,079,923 ARCH FILE Arthur J. Hirschle, 2808 S. Park Ave,Springfield, Ill. Filed Dec. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 77,541 5 Claims. (Cl.129-23) The present invention relates to improvements in files forreceiving sheets of perforated material and, more particularly, relatesto the inclusion of a novel one-way stop member on arch files of thegeneral type disclosed in my prior US. Patent No. 2,826,473 issued March11, 1958.

Arch files, having one or more generally inverted-U- shaped standards,receive wide usage in filing and storing sheets of data, either forshort or for long periods of time. One illustrative use, which will bereferred to herein for the purpose of explaining the invention, is infiling prescriptions. It is common practice for a pharmacist to store athousand prescriptions on one arch file. These prescriptions aremaintained in permanent files for possible future reference such as inrefilling a prescription. These files are normally kept open for aconsiderable period of time while the pharmacist is accumulating athousand prescriptions, and during this period of time he is continuallyadding new sheets to the file. Atthe same time, the pharmacist veryoften must refer to a previously filed prescription which may now besome distance down in the stack of sheets which has accumulated on thefile. To obtain convenient access to one such sheet, it is usuallynecessary to flip one or several superposed sheets back over the top ofthe sheet-receiving and holding standards. It is, of course, desirableto retain these superposed sheets on the standards to keep them in orderand to prevent their having to be individually or collectivelyrethreaded onto the file after the desired information has beenretrieved. It will thus be apparent that it is highly desirable toprovide an arch file which permits ready filing of successive sheets ofmaterial, such as prescriptions, as the file is being accumulated butwhich at the same time prevents accidental removal of these sheetsduring searches back through the files. At the same time, it isdesirable to provide for convenient removal of the sheets should this benecessary and to provide against removal of sheets by a more permanentclosure means when the files are completed and ready to be relegated tostored files.

Prior filing units have included various means which may retain filedsheets on filing standards. These include a spring-biased clamp-likemember forcefully abutting a standard (see Litscher U.S. Patent No.1,154,260), hooked-end standards (see Currier U.S. Patent No.2,814,299), or a locking-enaggement arrangement for the free ends of thestandards (see my prior patent aforementioned). The notedspring-clamp-type devices resist the filing of a sheet withsubstantially the same force as they resist removal. Thus, to hold theweight of a large number of sheets (e.g., up .to 1,000) which may restagainst the retainer, the spring would have to be quite strong and wouldnot only make the filing of individual sheets rather difficult, butwould also increase the risk of tearing the sheets being filed.Hooked-end standards provide tortuous sheet threading paths and theireffectiveness toward prevention of accidental removal of sheets is thusdirectly related to the difficulty encountered in originally filing thesheets. A locking arrangement such as is illustrated in my prior patentis satisfactory after a file is completely filled and closed forstorage, as the sheets cannot then be accidentally removed. However,while the file is open, the device must be locked closed during a searchthrough the files to prevent accidental sheet removal, then unlockedagain before additional new sheets can be filed. All of these previouslysuggested filing devices can be used to re- "ice sist accidental sheetremoval but also impose correlative inconveniences in filing new sheets.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvementin arch files which will permit convenient application of sheets to befiled thereon but which will prevent inadvertent removal of these sheetsafter they are filed.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a stop plateto serve as a one-way stop member permitting ready application of sheetsto arch files but preventing inadvertent removal of the sheets from thefile. It is a further object of this invention to provide a stop memberwhich permits ready application of sheets onto an arch file, preventsinadvertent removal of the sheets, permits convenient intentionalremoval of the sheets, and provides means for locking the file in aclosed sheetretaining position.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description,accompanying drawings and appended claims.

In carrying out this invention in one form a file unit is provided whichcomprises an arch file havinga generally horizontally disposed base, apair of inverted-U-shaped standards wherein one leg of each standard issecured to the base and the second leg projects downwardly to a free endfor receiving sheets of material to be filed on the standards, and astop plate which is freely .tiltably mounted on the legs secured to thebase and extends angularly upwardly therefrom to normally abut againstthe inner side of the .second legs. The stop plate is provided withsuitably shaped slots in its free distal-edge portion to receive thesecond legs of the standards in locking'engagement.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference shouldnow be had to the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arch file employing the teachings ofthis invention,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side-elevation view of the unit shown in FIG. 1with sheets filed thereon and showing the free legs of the standard in alocked position in dashed lines,

FIG. 3 is another side-elevationviewsimilar to FIG. 2 but on a smallerscale and showing the application of a perforated sheet onto the archfile,

FIG. 4 is another side-elevation view similar to FIG. 3 but showingseveral sheets turned back onto the free legs, and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front-elevation view of the stop plate.

Referring now to the particular illustrations in the various figures ofthe drawing, an arch-file unit is shown which includes a generally fiat,horizontally disposed base frame 10, a pair of generallyinverted-U-shaped standards 11 and astop plate 12. Each of the standardsincludes a storage leg 13 which is secured at its lower end to the base19, a free second leg 14 having a lower free end 15 for receivingperforated sheets to be threaded onto the storage file, and a bightportion 16 joining the two legs of the standard.

a Plate 12 is provided with two openings '17 adjacent its inner edgedisposed to receive the two standards 11. These openings are of adiameter substantially larger than the diameter of the standards wherebyplate 12 is rather loosely mounted on the standards and is thus freelypivotable in 'a vertical direction through a considerable arc ofmovement toward and away from legs 14. Plate 12 may be formed offlat-sheet stock preferably bent through an angle of about 30 adjacentopenings 17 to form two angularly disposed sections 12a and 12b asshown. End portion 19 of the plate, including section 12a and a part ofsection 12b, extends angularly upwardly from legs 13 toward the otherlegs and lies with its distal edge 25 in abutting relation with the freelegs 14 of the standard. The end portion 19 is provided with a pair ofoppositely oriented preferably J-shaped slots 20 and 21 communicatingwith the edge 25 and having entry leg portions 22 spaced apart adistance slightly less than the-normal spacing between the adjacent freelegs 1-4. The 'slot's also include transverse leg portions 23 and returnleg portions 24 extending outwardly from portions .23 towards the freedistal edge 25. Other shaped slots may be employed and if desired maycommunicate with opposite sides of the plate 12.

Stop member 12 is normally slipped over the standards 11 of the archfile previous to the placement thereon of sheets to be filed, as shownin FIG. 1, and is disposed with the free distal edge 25 in abuttingrelation with the free legs 14, the plate being held against these legsby the force of gravity. Sheets are readily applied to this file unit bythreading the sheets onto the free ends 15 and passing them upward overthe standards onto the storage legs. The sheets being filed readily pushthe stop member away from the free leg a sufficient distance to permitthe sheets to pass beyond the stop member in the manner illustrated inFIG. 3. It will thus be appreciated that the stop member does not in anyway hinder the application of sheets onto the files.

At such times as it is necessary to flip sheets onto the free legs,without removing them from the files, these sheets encounter the freeedge portion of the lock plate 12, as indicated in FIG. 4, and urge itoutwardly against the free legs. The lock plate thus prevents removal ofthe sheets unless the plate is intentionally tilted inwardly away fromthe free legs. It is apparent that While conscious effort is necessaryto remove sheets from the file, thus preventing inadvertent removal,very little effort is required and the steps necessary to such removalare very simple.

The plate is bent at 18 to provide a greater amount of room for thesheets to rest in a lowermost position around vthe storage legs to thusmaintain substantially the full capacity of the file. At the same time,the sheets resting on this portion of the plate serve to urge the platesomewhat more tightly against the free legs to aid in preventing theplate from resting in a non-abutting position whereby sheets could slipfrom the free legs.

At such time as it is desired to close the file for a period of time,such as when the file may be placed in comparatively permanent storage,the free legs 14' are sprung into the return portions 24 of the J-shapedslots where they will remain under their own spring tension.

The term generally U-shaped as used in the specification and claimsherein is intended to include reverselybent elongated members of variousforms such as the U-shape illustrated, square-based U-shaped, V-shaped,and the like.

It will be obvious that certain other modifications of the Specificembodiment shown may be made by those skilled in this art in light ofthe foregoing teachings of the preferred embodiment without departingfrom the spirit and scope of this invention. For instance, the stopmember could be mounted on a separate suppon't apart from storage legs13, the locking slots 20 and 21 could be designed with other tortuouspath configurations and the stop member could be formedof a rod or wireframework similar to the illustrated base frame, as by providing eyesfor receivingthe storage standards, legs extending toward the free legs,and a crossbar for abutting the free legs. Also, while the most commonusage of these units is with pre-perforated sheets and blunt ends 15,the invention can be utilized with unperforated material and sharppoints at placed on the file. The invention can also be embodied insingle-standard file units.

It will thus be seen that an improved file unit has been 15 to perforatethe sheets as they are provided with a stop member which does notinterfere with normal filing of sheets on the file unit but whichautomatically and without conscious effort on the part of the operatorassumes a position to prevent inadvertent removal of sheets from thefile. At the same time, it is very simple to remove sheets therefromwhen it is intended to do so. A simple expedient means has been providedfor locking the standards in a sheet-retaining position for temporary orpermanent storage.

While a particular embodiment of this invention is shown above, it willbe understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limitedthereto since many modifications may be made by those skilled in thisart in light of the teachings illustrated and described herein. It iscontemplated, therefore, by the appended claims to cover any suchmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

I claim:

l. A file unit comprising a base, a generally inverted- U-shaped freestandard having two legs joined by a bight portion, and a stop member;the lower end of one leg of said standard being attached to said baseand the second leg having a free end for admission of perforated sheetsonto the standard, said stop member being freely slidably and tiltablymounted on said one leg and having an end portion of a length greater.than the normal distance between said legs, said end portion extendingfrom said one leg, in a direction toward the bight portion of saidstandard, into abutting relation with said second leg.

2. The improvement as in claim I and wherein said stop member is formedwith a tortuous path locking slot in said distal portion for receivingthe second leg in'locking engagement. 7

3. A file unit comprising a normally horizontally disposed base, a pairof parallel generally inverted-U-shaped free standards extending upwardfrom said base and each having a first leg with its lower end attachedto said base and a second leg with a free end for admission thereon ofperforated sheets, a stop plate freely slidably and tiltably mounted onsaid first legs and having an end portion extending from said first legsangularly upwardly toward said second legs, said end portion being of alengthgreater than the normal distance between the legs of each standardand normally abutting said second legs;

4. -A file unit as in claim 3 and wherein said plate is formed with apair of J-sh-aped slots in said end portion for receiving said secondlegs'in locking engagement.

5. A file unit comprising a normally horizontally disposed base, apairof parallel generally inverted-U-shaped free standards extendingupward from said base and each having a first leg with its lower endattached to said base and a second leg with a free end for admissionthereon of perforated sheets, a stop plate provided with a pair ofopenings corresponding to and larger than said first legs, said stopplate freely slidably and tiltably mounted on said legs with said firstlegs extending through said openings, and said stop plate having an endportion extending from saidfirst legs angularly upwardly towards saidsecond legs, said end portion being of a length greater than the normaldistance between the legs of each standa'rd and normally abutting saidsecond legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FranceApr. 24, 1955

1. A FILE UNIT COMPRISING A BASE, A GENERALLY INVERTEDU-SHAPED FREESTANDARD HAVING TWO LEGS JOINED BY A BIGHT PORTION, AND A STOP MEMBER;THE LOWER END OF ONE LEG OF SAID STANDARD BEING ATTACHED TO SAID BASEAND THE SECOND LEG HAVING A FREE END FOR ADMISSION OF PERFORATED SHEETSONTO THE STANDARD, SAID STOP MEMBER BEING FREELY SLIDABLY AND TILTABLYMOUNTED ON SAID ONE LEG AND HAVING AN END PORTION OF A LENGTH GREATERTHAN THE NORMAL DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID LEGS, SAID END PORTION EXTENDINGFROM SAID ONE